New Delhi, May 15 (H.S.): A significant change has been made ahead of the final phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025). The BCCI has announced that teams can now include a temporary replacement player in case a foreign player is unavailable. This decision has been taken considering the absence of players who are unable to participate in the tournament due to national commitments, personal reasons, or health-related issues.

In an official note sent to IPL franchises, it was stated, Players who are brought in at this time will not be able to be retained for the next year. They will have to re-register for the IPL 2026 auction.

According to the rules released at the start of the season, no team could add a temporary player after its 12th league match. However, due to the India-Pakistan tensions, the tournament was suspended on May 8, creating an exceptional situation. In light of this unprecedented circumstance, IPL officials have amended the rules.

The day after the match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamshala, when the stadium was evacuated for security reasons and the tournament was halted, most foreign players had already returned to their countries.

However, when the IPL resumes, most foreign players are expected to return, but those who are part of the World Test Championship final or those whose families are not allowing them to return to India will not come back. To ensure that this doesn’t harm any team, the path for temporary options has been opened.

The first example of this new rule has been seen in the Delhi Capitals team, where Mustafizur Rahman has been included in place of Jake Fraser-McGurk. This means that Rahman will not be able to be retained for the next season, but McGurk can be kept in the team.

This change in IPL 2025 rules is an effort to maintain the league’s resilience and fairness in times of crisis, providing every team with an equal opportunity.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar